General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Note On 'Drone Strikes', Ladies And Gentlemen [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)How do you define war?
1
a (1) : a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations (2) : a period of such armed conflict (3) : state of war
b : the art or science of warfare
c (1) obsolete : weapons and equipment for war (2) archaic : soldiers armed and equipped for war
2
a : a state of hostility, conflict, or antagonism
b : a struggle or competition between opposing forces or for a particular end <a class war> <a war against disease>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war
The second definition is derived from the first and is metaphoric. I am at war with my raccoons. Doesn't mean I am going to kill them. It means I am trying to keep them out of my garden.
We are blurring the edges of our definition of war to give us the right to arbitrarily rid the earth of people we don't like, people who are inconvenient to us but who are not an imminent threat.
That reminds me of the guy who says he killed a young man because the man looked dangerous and when the killer followed the young man and tried to stop him the man wouldn't stop but turned back to fight.